Former Site of the Kangdu Conference

Former Site of the Kangdu Conference

The Former Site of the Kangdu Conference is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province and a classic red tourism destination.

The Former Site of the Kangdu Conference (including the Former Residence of Mao Zedong, the Former Site of the Red First Front Army Radio Station, the Former Site of the Red First Front Army General Hospital, the Former Site of the Kangdu Soviet Government, and the Former Site of the Red First Front Army Headquarters (Ningjia Mansion)) is located in Kangdu Village, Taihe Town, Nanfeng County. It includes the Former Residence of Comrade Mao Zedong and the former site of the Red First Front Army Headquarters, and is a modern historical relic. It is also among the second batch of municipal-level cultural relic protection units in Fuzhou City.

Kangdu Village is 30 kilometers from the county seat, bordered by Lichuan to the north, Guangchang to the south, and backed by the Wuyi Mountains to the east. Crossing the mountain pass leads to Jianning County in Fujian Province. During the Red Army’s counter-“encirclement and suppression” campaigns, Kangdu Village was one of the consolidated Soviet areas in Nanfeng County. After the first counter-“encirclement,” the Red Army came to Kangdu to crack down on local tyrants and carry out revolutionary propaganda. During the second counter-“encirclement,” the Red Army occupied Kangdu Village after capturing Jianning. In early June 1931, following the victory in the second counter-“encirclement,” the Red First Front Army Headquarters and Political Department moved from Jianning County, Fujian, to “Ningjia Mansion” on the lower street of Kangdu Market, Nanfeng. On June 21–22, the Front Committee of the Red First Front Army held its first expanded meeting and the ninth meeting of the Front Committee here to discuss the current situation and action plans—this is the famous “Kangdu Conference.”

Mao Zedong, Secretary of the Front Committee, along with committee members Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, Lin Biao, Tan Zhenlin, and Zhou Yisu, representatives of the Central Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party in the Soviet Area such as Wang Jiaxiang, and 16 military and local leaders including Yuan Guoping, Tan Zheng, Cai Huawen, Song Renqiong, Gu Bai, and Guo HuaYu attended the meeting. The “Kangdu Conference” reviewed the experience of the second counter-“encirclement,” decided to strengthen political propaganda, enhance the construction of the Red Army and local armed forces, gather resources, reduce expenditures to ensure military supplies, and also studied the operational zones for the third counter-“encirclement.” The “Kangdu Conference” played a significant role in establishing the Jianning–Lichuan–Taihe base area, building the Red Army, and securing victory in the third counter-“encirclement.” It laid the political, organizational, military, and economic foundations for the success of the third counter-“encirclement,” marking a glorious chapter in China’s military and revolutionary history.

In Kangdu Village, many revolutionary sites and relics left by the Red Army are still preserved, including: the Former Site of the Red First Front Army Headquarters, the Former Residence of Mao Zedong, the Former Site of the Red First Front Army Political Department, the Former Site of the Red First Front Army Radio Station, the Red Army Hospital, the Red Army Bank, Red Army slogans, the Former Site of the Kangdu Township Soviet Government, Red Army trenches, air-raid shelters, and the Former Site of the Command of the Fourth Sub-region of the Red Army Jiangxi Military District. Nanfeng County allocated special funds for the development of the Kangdu Conference site, fully tapping into its red tourism resources. The “Exhibition Room of the Kangdu Conference Site” has been renovated, with conference documents, materials, and slogans organized and mounted. A new red tourism village has also been built. Currently, the site of the “Kangdu Conference” has become an important patriotic education base, receiving over 20,000 visitors annually.

Red Army propaganda slogan: “Overthrow the local tyrants and evil gentry, distribute all land equally”—though over 70 years have passed, the writing remains clearly visible.

Kangdu Village: Kangdu Village…… More details about Kangdu Village++

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units in Jiangxi Province